Laboratory Astrochemistry

该项目连接了分子光谱学、纳米科学、化学物理和天文学的研究领域。其目的是调查，使用现代工具的独特组合，气相光谱和化学性质的碳分子是至关重要的天体化学。动机来自最近在拱星环境中发现的C 60和C+作为几个神秘的弥漫星际带（DIB）的第一个载体的鉴定。这些发现表明，在星际介质中一定存在大量的其他富勒烯类似物，其中一个目标是在低温下合成和光谱分析它们，从而能够与天文观测进行直接比较。这将通过使用基于温度可变射频阱中的离子存储的最先进的实验室技术的创新组合来实现。最终，该项目的目标之一是解决识别一些剩余DIB载体分子的巨大挑战，从而深入了解它们在将有机物质从拱星壳运输到星星和行星形成区域中的作用。科学方案的另一个动机是对复杂分子离子进行光谱研究，从光学区域扩展到红外区域，在红外区域发现了通常被认为是由多环芳烃引起的发射特征，将使用离子阱、激光、分子和自由基束以及现代质谱法进行实验。

This project bridges the research fields of molecular spectroscopy, nanoscience, chemical physics and astronomy. The aim is to investigate, using a unique combination of modern tools, the gas phase spectroscopic and chemical properties of carbonaceous molecules that are of central importance to astrochemistry. Motivation comes from the recent discovery of C60 in circumstellar environments and the identification of C + as the first carrier of several of the enigmatic diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). These discoveries suggest that there must be a significant number of other fullerene analogues present in the interstellar medium and here one of the objectives is to synthesise and spectroscopically characterise them at low temperatures, enabling a direct comparison with astronomical observations. This will be achieved using an innovative combination of state-of-the-art laboratory techniques based on ion storage in a temperature variable radiofrequency trap. Ultimately, one of the aims of the project is to address the grand challenge of identifying some of the remaining DIB carrier molecules, leading to insight into their role in the transportation of organic matter from circumstellar shells to regions where star and planet formation occurs. The scientific programme is also motivated by spectroscopic investigation of complex molecular ions, with extension from the optical region to the infrared where emission features typically cited as arising due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found. Experiments will be carried out using ion traps coupled with lasers, beams of molecules and radicals and modern methods of mass spectrometry.